According to press reports such as this one, and for all I know a zillion others (I’ve been totally out of touch at a graduation party over on Eat Street), Clinton will announce her move on Saturday. She had a conference call with party mucky mucks today, apparently. The announcement will come in connection with an end-of-primary event. The Obama campaign is pretty much staying out of the way.

Mr Obama had paid tribute to Mrs Clinton and hinted that she would play a role in any future Obama administration.Mrs Clinton has said she would be “open” to the idea of being Mr Obama’s vice-presidential running-mate.Referring to a brief conversation he had held with his defeated rival, the Illinois senator said: “I’m very confident of how we’re going to be able to bring the party together.”

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John Kennedy, former deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and Jim Johnson comprise Obama’s VP selection committee.I, for one, am totally confident that we will be seeing an Obama/Clinton ticket.

I’m really torn on the question of Clinton as VP. On one hand, it’s immediate recognition of what she’s accomplished in her campaign. That’s good as far as the election season goes. On the other hand, I’d like to see her in a post after the election that carries its own authority, something where the credit for what she does will obviously accrue to her. I’m waffling.

Pragmatically speaking, X% of voters are saying “I will not vote for Obama … I’ll vote for McCain, say home, or write in Clinton” … who also claim they will vote for Obama/Clinton.How big is “X” and how long lasting is this effect? Will these people follow through with this decision even though it may cause the election of a Republican as president (and thus, longer term, a 100% Republican appointed S.C. and thousands more dead in Iraq etc) or will they change their mind?

Oh, right. I’d forgotten the hostages.I understand the frustration. I get (or I think I do) the anger. I’m not saying anyone shouldn’t be frustrated and angry right now. There were two versions of history to be made here, and almost exactly half the people involved don’t get to see their version this time. And plenty of blame has been laid.But sometimes I just want the freedom–for myself and others–to make decisions like a rational adult. When do I get my version of history?

I think Madeleine Albright would be a strong candidate in a lot of ways. She’s just someone I thought of off the top of my head as a woman who would make a good, solid running mate. I don’t know if she’s even interested in the post, though.

Joel, I’d be perfectly happy to have her as VP if that’s what she wants, although I think she’d shine better elsewhere. And while many of Obama’s supporters are still angry, I think he’s perfectly capable of telling them Clinton as VP is an excellent thing and being believed. He started the process Tuesday night. Boy, that man can talk.

Boy, that man can talkThis reminded me of something that happened in the mid-seventies when I was in basic training. I used the colloquialism “boy” in the presence of a black man and not being from the south where I assume it means something different, I didn’t understand the implications for this other soldier, I was 17 and pretty ignorant about the world. I tried to explain that where I am from, it means something quite different. I’ve rarely used that term since.

Joel -I think that Stephanie’s usage of the word ‘boy’ was as an abbreviated “oh boy!”, like “oh my!”, and not like “Boy, you’d better get out to them fields”, or whatever. I’m not sure of the derivation of that exclamation, though…I’m reminded of a comment by Elizabeth about the usage of ‘girl’ and find it interesting that while some women have certainly embraced the term as a positive (including Clinton), especially since the whole “girl-power” movement, it remains a touchy subject with regard to who is using it and for what purpose. All too often, it still retains the diminutive connotation that troubles us about ‘boy’, which is to say ‘less than a man’. I don’t know that there will ever be the type of appropriation in the masculine that we’ve see with the feminine. Men can simply insist on being men. Women, it seems (since they can’t spend all day every day everywhere arguing the matter) have chosen to not take offense, and to redefine as needed (kinda like with the N-word…kinda). Girls rock!I know I referred to Obama as the “golden boy” somewhere here and felt a little iffy about it…golden boy:nouna man who is unusually successful at an early age

Ding, ding, ding. Ana wins.Actually, it’s more like “Hoo boy!” if I say it out loud, but that betrays that I lived in the south for a few formative years.Joel, you have my sympathy. It’s the unaware gaffes that always smart the most, isn’t it?

This is a tricky one. “Boie” or “boi” is a servent, slave, or knave in old medieval French and the same word applies to young men in general in contemporary english. In the Congo, “boi” is usually a young woman who is a cook or helper, if I recall correctly. I never knew if that was English, French, KiSwahili, or something else, but it always sounded bad to me and I never used the word. “Boy/Boi” is also used in Asia meaning any servant, I think, of any age, in various languages. A Boy is also a naval/military servent.So, the pejorative “boy” in the African American US sense may be not just less than a man as in younger than a man (because, after all, in a patriarchical society, “boys” are very much valued….) but rather there may be another connection.Boy was used to refer to soldiers starting at some point, and I think this may be connected to the origin of “oh boy” … Oh Boy comes from the WW I era, as an expression for “Holy Crap” or “Wow” I’m pretty sure.I’ve got an OED laying around here somewhere….

It was more a matter of where the heck it was on the web. I have access via the U.I got it, and confirm some of what is above. The French and Asian uses are not in the OED, nor is the Congolese use, so these are from my memory for now (having looked it up back when I found out that I was supposed to call our cook “boy” or “boi” in Zaire … ).But in the OED, “boy” referring to a black slave/servant actually goes to the mid 17th century in the US but does not seem to acccur a lot until the early 19th century in S. Africa and mid 19th century in the US.Here’s the write up on “oh boy!” or “oh, boy!” in full:

1917 Amer. Mag. Mar. 13/1 ï¿½I told that dame I was Kid Hanlon.ï¿½..ï¿½Oh, boy!ï¿½ I yells. 1927 Punch 7 Sept. 263 Oh, boy, I feel good! 1930 D. H. LAWRENCE Nettles 17 And they blushed, they giggled, they sniggered, they leered..and said: Oh boy!..that’s pretty hot! 1934 M. HODGE Wind & Rain I. i. 18 Boy! They don’t wear a damned thing! 1942 L. D. RICH We took to Woods (1944) ii. 34 Maine guides have a legend of quaintness to uphold, and boy! do they uphold it. 1958 ï¿½N. SHUTEï¿½ Rainbow & Rose i. 2, I slithered in over the fence and put her [sc. the aeroplane] down and boy! was I glad to be on the ground!